United States District Court, S.D. California
ORDER DISMISSING CIVIL ACTION WITHOUT PREJUDICE FOR
FAILING TO PAY FILING FEE REQUIRED BY 28 U.S.C. §
1914(a) AND/OR FAILING TO MOVE TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS
PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)
Hon.
John A. Houston United States District Judge
Plaintiff
Wali David Jabbar, while incarcerated at the San Diego County
Sheriff Department's George F. Bailey Detention Facility
(“GBDF”), and proceeding pro se, has filed a
civil right complaint pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983.
See Compl., ECF No. 1. Plaintiff alleges the County
of San Diego, Sheriff Gore, and Sheriff's Department
Captain Buchanan have caused him to develop a bacterial skin
disease by failing to properly decontaminate the hair
clippers used by GBDF barbers. Id. at 3. He seeks
$275, 000 compensatory and punitive damages, and his
“release from jail[].” Id. at 7.
Jabbar
has not prepaid the $400 civil filing fee required by 28
U.S.C. § 1914(a), however, and has not filed a Motion to
Proceed In Forma Pauperis
(“IFP”) pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §
1915(a).
I.
Failure to Pay Filing Fee or Request IFP Status
All
parties instituting any civil action, suit or proceeding in a
district court of the United States, except an application
for writ of habeas corpus, must pay a filing fee of $400.
See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a). The action may proceed
despite a plaintiff's failure to prepay the entire fee
only if he is granted leave to proceed IFP pursuant
to 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a). See Andrews v.
Cervantes, 493 F.3d 1047, 1051 (9th Cir. 2007);
Rodriguez v. Cook, 169 F.3d 1176, 1177 (9th Cir.
1999). However, the Prison Litigation Reform Act's
(“PLRA”) amendments to § 1915 require that
all prisoners who proceed IFP to pay the entire fee
in “increments” or “installments, ”
Bruce v. Samuels, __ U.S. __, 136 S.Ct. 627, 629
(2016); Williams v. Paramo, 775 F.3d 1182, 1185 (9th
Cir. 2015), and regardless of whether their action is
ultimately dismissed. See 28 U.S.C. §
1915(b)(1) & (2); Taylor v. Delatoore, 281 F.3d
844, 847 (9th Cir. 2002).
Section
1915(a)(2) requires all persons seeking to proceed without
full prepayment of fees to file an affidavit that includes a
statement of all assets possessed and demonstrates an
inability to pay. See Escobedo v. Applebees, 787
F.3d 1226, 1234 (9th Cir. 2015). In support of this
affidavit, the PLRA also requires prisoners to submit a
“certified copy of the trust fund account statement (or
institutional equivalent) for ... the 6-month period
immediately preceding the filing of the complaint.” 28
U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); Andrews v. King, 398 F.3d
1113, 1119 (9th Cir. 2005). From the certified trust account
statement, the Court assesses an initial payment of 20% of
(a) the average monthly deposits in the account for the past
six months, or (b) the average monthly balance in the account
for the past six months, whichever is greater, unless the
prisoner has no assets. See 28 U.S.C. §
1915(b)(1); 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(4). The institution
having custody of the prisoner then collects subsequent
payments, assessed at 20% of the preceding month's
income, in any month in which his account exceeds $10, and
forwards those payments to the Court until the entire filing
fee is paid. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(b)(2);
Bruce, 136 S.Ct. at 629.
Because
Jabbar has neither paid the filing fee required by 28 U.S.C.
§ 1914(a) to commence a civil action, nor filed a
properly supported Motion to Proceed IFP pursuant to
28 U.S.C. § 1915(a), his case cannot yet proceed.
See 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a); Andrews, 493
F.3d at 1051.
II.
Conclusion and Order
Accordingly,
the Court:
(1)
DISMISSES this civil action without
prejudice based on Plaintiff's failure to pay the $400
civil filing and administrative fee or to submit a Motion to
Proceed IFP pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§
1914(a) and 1915(a).
(2)
GRANTS Plaintiff forty-five (45) days leave
from the date this Order is filed to: (a) prepay the entire
$400 civil filing and administrative fee in full; or (b)
complete and file a Motion to Proceed IFP which
includes a certified copy of his GBDF trust account
statements for the 6-month period preceding the filing of his
Complaint. See 28 U.S.C. § 1915(a)(2); S.D.
Cal. CivLR 3.2(b).
(3)
DIRECTS the Clerk of the Court to provide
Plaintiff with the Court's approved form “Motion
and Declaration in Support of Motion to Proceed In Forma
Pauperis.”[1] If Plaintiff fails to either prepay the
$400 civil filing fee or fully complete and submit the
enclosed Motion to Proceed IFP within 45 days, this
action will remain dismissed without prejudice based on his
failure to satisfy 28 U.S.C. § 1914(a)'s fee
requirement and without further Order of the Court.
IT
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